Glacial Effects on Discharge and Sediment Load in the Subarctic Tanana River Basin, Alaska

Wada, Tomoyuki; Chikita, Kazuhisa A.; Kim, Y.; Kudo, Isao

doi:10.1657/1938-4246-43.4.632

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…[28,42] Glacial meltwater from the range to the Tanana River ( Figure 1) contributes up to 60% of annual downstream flow, and is increasing yearly. [30] Records identify that winter runoff increased in the proglacial Tanana River beginning in 1970's [43] in alignment with shrinking glaciers and aquifer recharge via glacierized headwater stream corridors, but without subsequent increase in precipitation. [28] Glacial contributions to stream flow have also been found to increase in June and July, concurrent with a yearly precipitation decrease ranging between 12-26%, during the past 6 years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[20] Though the concentrations of ΣDDT and ΣHCH found within Jarvis Glacier ice and meltwater are low, the potential for bioaccumulation through the proglacial food chain [15,61,62] and the human population [63,64] increases their potential impact. As mentioned, within the Tanana River, glacial meltwater currently accounts for over 50% of annual stream flow, [30] consistently introducing OCPs into the watershed. [28,53,54] This OCP transport may occur within other ablating glaciers of Interior Alaska, raising the possibility that OCP concentration in the ecologically critical Yukon watershed is increasing with ongoing glacial melt.…”

Section: Implications For Arctic Populations and Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…It is likely that Jarvis Glacier is not an isolated case and that numerous glaciers in the Eastern Alaska Range house legacy OCPs. In line with glacial melt contribution to the watershed, [30] numerous glaciers releasing stored legacy chemicals into the ecosystem may raise the concentration of OCPs above background levels. Subsistence Arctic populations that eat exclusively from the local biota could therefore be indicated for potential human health impacts.…”

Section: Implications For Arctic Populations and Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jarvis Glacier represents one of the most well studied glacial systems in Eastern Alaska ( Figure 1). [23,[28][29][30] Research into the connections between watershed characteristics, [28,29] permafrost [28] and ice dynamics have developed an integrated perspective of the glacier and the region. Ice core samples collected for investigation into Jarvis Glacier's ice dynamics give us opportunity to conduct the first study of OCPs entrained within a glacier of Interior Alaska, as a first effort to characterize species type and concentration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organochlorine Pollutants within a Polythermal Glacier in the Interior Eastern Alaska Range

Miner¹,

Campbell²,

Gerbi³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Abstract:To assess the presence of organochlorine pollutants (OCP) in Alaskan sub-Arctic latitudes, we analyzed ice core and meltwater samples from Jarvis Glacier, a polythermal glacier in Interior Alaska. Jarvis Glacier is receding as atmospheric warming continues throughout the region, increasing opportunity for OCP transport both englacially and into the proglacial watershed. Across glacial meltwater and ice core samples we utilize solid-phase extraction technology and identify the pesticides DDT, DDE and DDD, α-HCH and ϒ-HCH. OCP concentrations in ice core samples were highest at the 7-14 m depth (0.51 ng/L of DDT) and decreased gradually approaching the bedrock at 79m. Meltwater concentrations from the proglacial creek slightly exceeded concentrations found in the ice core, potentially indicating aggregate OCP glacial loss, with peak OCP concentration (1.12 ng/L of DDD) taken in July and possibly associated to peak melt. Ongoing use of DDT to fight Malaria in Asia, and the extended atmospheric range of HCH may account for concentrations in near-surface ice of this remote glacier, correlating with use and atmospheric transport. The opportunity for bioaccumulation of OCPs, in humans or animals, of glacially distributed pollutants may increase as glacial melt continues.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Arctic Populations and Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Implications For Arctic Populations and Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Organochlorine Pollutants within a Polythermal Glacier in the Interior Eastern Alaska Range

Miner¹,

Campbell²,

Gerbi³

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…5), increasing the water available for hydropower production (Jiménez Cisneros et al, 2014;Hamududu and Killingtveit, 2012). However, the impacts of climate change will be further complicated by several factors including glacial wasting, permafrost thaw, and erosion (Bliss et al, 2014;Quinton et al, 2011;Wada et al, 2011). These characteristics of northern systems may impact the long-term risk associated with hydropower projects through changes to in-stream flow, increased sedimentation, and vulnerability to hazards such as glacial burst flooding and seismic activity related to changes in water/glacier mass loading.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planning for climate change impacts on hydropower in the Far North

Cherry

Knapp

Trainor

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Unlike much of the contiguous United States, new hydropower development continues in the Far North, where climate models project precipitation will likely increase over the next century. Regional complexities in the Arctic and subArctic, such as glacier recession and permafrost thaw, however, introduce uncertainties about the hydrologic responses to climate change that impact water resource management. This work reviews hydroclimate changes in the Far North and their impacts on hydropower; it provides a template for application of current techniques for prediction and estimating uncertainty, and it describes best practices for integrating science into management and decision-making. The growing number of studies on hydrologic impacts suggests that information resulting from climate change science has matured enough that it can and should be integrated into hydropower scoping, design, and management. Continuing to ignore the best available information in lieu of status quo planning is likely to prove costly to society in the long term.

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Glacierized headwater streams as aquifer recharge corridors, subarctic Alaska

Liljedahl

Gädeke

O’Neel

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Arctic river discharge has increased in recent decades although sources and mechanisms remain debated. Abundant literature documents permafrost thaw and mountain glacier shrinkage over the past decades. Here we link glacier runoff to aquifer recharge via a losing headwater stream in subarctic Interior Alaska. Field measurements in Jarvis Creek (634 km2), a subbasin of the Tanana and Yukon Rivers, show glacier meltwater runoff as a large component (15–28%) of total annual streamflow despite low glacier cover (3%). About half of annual headwater streamflow is lost to the aquifer (38 to 56%). The estimated long‐term change in glacier‐derived aquifer recharge exceeds the observed increase in Tanana River base flow. Our findings suggest a linkage between glacier wastage, aquifer recharge along the headwater stream corridor, and lowland winter discharge. Accordingly, glacierized headwater streambeds may serve as major aquifer recharge zones in semiarid climates and therefore contributing to year‐round base flow of lowland rivers.

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Glacial Effects on Discharge and Sediment Load in the Subarctic Tanana River Basin, Alaska

Cited by 26 publications

References 55 publications

Organochlorine Pollutants within a Polythermal Glacier in the Interior Eastern Alaska Range

Organochlorine Pollutants within a Polythermal Glacier in the Interior Eastern Alaska Range

Planning for climate change impacts on hydropower in the Far North

Glacierized headwater streams as aquifer recharge corridors, subarctic Alaska

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